Every year, we go back to Nebraska to see family. And every year, we visit some nifty place along the way - we've been to the Tetons a couple times, Yellowstone MANY times, and this year we thought of a different place for once - Rocky Mountain National Park. My dad hadn't been there in 49 years, mom's never been there and neither have I. So it should be great!

We stayed in Estes Park, and the two most popular activities of the trip were hiking and stuffing our greasy maws with equally greasy Cheese Whiz, yum.

Day 1, driving in
Just some pictures from driving there...

Utah sunrise

We stopped at Holzworth Historic site for a leg-strecher, and although the actual site was closed due to flooding, the Kawoneechee valley is still pretty.

Ooh, two attempts, ouch. But both were not achieved for legitimate reasons...it was also this trip that the infamous 'low' took place, and I'll get to that.

We decided to do this hike first because it was semi-mellow and didn't top out to high in case someone got altitude issues. It was awesome, mainly because of two words:
LONGS PEAK.
It's east face, the Diamond, is just staring at you the whole time on this hike. It's straight-up vertical for 2000-odd feet. It pretty much had me mesmerized the whole time.

first view of Longs and Lady Washington

yucca?

Meeker and Longs

THE DIAMOND!

Within the last half mile or so to Chasm Lake, we reached a snowfield that was kinda (very) steep, and we didn't really want to cross it because a fall would be pretty bad for your health.

Now of course my ice axe was in the back of the car, and my crampons are a thousand miles away in my basement. So we opted to turn around, and head for Battle Mountain (12,044 feet) instead.

Peacock Pool and Meeker

Longs and the snowfield

boot shot

Now of course, NO trip is complete with some epic place to lighten your load. And I don't mean a good place to catch your breath...

We were back on the Longs Peak trail heading to Granite Pass, and from there to Battle Mountain. It was about halfway to the pass when the 'low' occured. Now when I'm hiking, I keep my camera strap around my neck, and have it resting in my belt case for it, with the case open.

I didn't realize it, but I had my case open without the strap on my neck. I didn't even think about it. My toe caught a rock, and my nice, new, $600 Nikon SLR decided it would be fun to go BASE jumping.

Hearing the crack when the camera hit the ground was sickening. I dropped my trekking poles and picked it up. My first thought was "The lens!". The lens was fine. Whew. Everything else looked alright. YES! That was close!

Or so I thought.

I went to turn it on. Nothing happened.

"oh no, Oh no!!" I panicked. That's when I noticed the LCD screen was shattered and no longed worked. "No, No NO!!". I was seriously PO'd.

Thankfully, I discovered the camera could still take pictures, and I could still see my shutter speed and aperture in the viewfinder, but couldn't adjust burst, ISO, metering, use the built in editing, etc.

It could've been worse. Otherwise, this trip was awesome.

Oh, and my favorite picture of this hike. I almost forgot.

wildflowers and Longs.

Day 3Sundance Mtn (12,466 feet), Tombstone Ridge4 miles, 800 feet"We have to be taking hikes with all the crap we've been eating!" -Dad

This was just kind of our chill day, and it's interesting that here climbing a 12k mountain is a "chill day", whereas back in WA that's an undertaking.

Sundance Mtn is the highpoint of Trail Ridge, and summiting it is an easy cross country hike with some awesome scenery. After relaxing on top for a good 30 mins or so, we hiked along Tombstone Ridge on the Ute Trail for a bit just for fun.

Chilling on the summit for so long, with nothing but mountains to see in all directions, is probably one of the most relaxing, meditative times I've had in the mountains. We could see the Continental Divide to the South, The Gore Range, the Mummy Range, the Rawah Range, the Never Summer Mountains (naturally looking very wintery), the Great Plains, Estes Park, and even the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming. And all topped with perfect blue skies.

It was amazing that in the bustle of one of the most popular areas of a popular national park, we had solitude.

My personal favorite trip of the trip , it was also the most challenging for sure.

It starts by mingling with the yuppie crowd around Bear Lake, then climbing moderately before hitting snow. LOTS of snow! From about 9800 feet to treeline (11,400 feet) was solid snow, but there was a decent, albeit meandering and slippery, bootpack, and it served was well up to treeline. That's where I saw my first ptarmigan!

granite flavored ptarmigan!

This one was granite-flavored, once we got near the summit of Flattop, and saw a couple of ptarmigans that were still snow-flavored! Nice!

by this picture you would have no idea how much snow was above and below.

Speaking of the wind, it was WINDY and COLD. It was 50 degrees or so out with continous 40 mph winds. Brr, senor!

Hallett looms closer

Overlooking Emerald lake. The money shot.

There was a gnarly cornice near the top of Flattop. We gave it wide berth. I could've sworn I had a picture of it but aparantely I didn't. Bummer.

After summiting Flattop, we had a good view of the Tyndall Glacier that rests between Hallett and Flattop. In the steepest section of the headwall, about 60 degrees at least, we saw ski tracks! Now I'll ski just about anything I come across but no way would I do that...scary stuff!

The flat top of Flattop.

From here it was 1/2 mile and 300 feet up to the summit of Hallett. It's class 2. Now anything over class 1 usually slows my mom down a bit, and she decided she didn't want to continue. Dad said he'd stay with her, and I could summit on my own. Well okay then. Why not?

If you were within 1/2 mile of Chasm Lake, must have been near the new Chasm Meadows Patrol Cabin, noteworthy because it is a completely new structure built by helicopter well within a Wilderness area (much-needed to support the numerous climbers (and frequent S&Rs) on this popular Longs Peak climbing route).

new Chasm Meadow Patrol Cabin, RMNP

But particularly noteworthy now, given the controversy over the Green Mountain Lookout, which is merely a rehabilitation of an historic structure, not an entirely new structure within Wilderness. (Both are perfectly legal under the Wilderness Act, by the way.)

--------------"of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt" - John Muir
"the wild is not the opposite of cultivated. It is the opposite of the captivated” - Vandana Shiva

I have the fondest memories of spending 3 summers roaming those trails when I was a teen. At this point, it is a dream to be able to return to those hills. Someday. And yeah, Long's Peak is totally mesmerizing and it's so awesome to be able to sit on the shores of Chasm and watch the climbers scale that sheer face.

--------------Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin

Also, you got to experience first hand the famous Colorado winds...welcome to Colorado!

Only 40 mph though is pretty weak...consider yourself lucky!

Sorry I couldn't join you as I was stuck in the beauty of the San Juans in the SW part of Colorado.

Great TR and photos...keep an eye out for my big Colorado TR to come soon.

Thanks...the only downside of the trip was my camera going kaput. I'd probably be without it for a month or so

Altitude...I did fine. The first day going over Trail Ridge Road up at 12k got me a little light headed very briefly and a mild headache, but that's it. I had been up to 10k a couple of times in years past so I wasn't expecting too much. Who we were worried about was my dad, who has asthma, but we were all fine.

--------------"Civilization is a nice place to visit, although I wouldn't want to live there."
My photos

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